E-patient

An e-patient is a health consumer who participates fully in his/her medical care. E-patients see themselves as equal partners with their doctors in the healthcare process. E-patients gather information about medical conditions that impact them and their families, using electronic communication tools (including Web 2.0 tools).[1] The term encompasses both those who seek guidance for their own ailments and the friends and family members who go online on their behalf. E-patients report two effects of their health research: "better health information and services, and different, but not always better, relationships with their doctors."[2]

Equals in their partnership(s) with the physician(s) involved in their care

Emancipated

Expert patients can improve their self-rated health status, cope better with fatigue and other generic features of chronic disease such as role limitation, and reduce disability and their dependence on hospital care.[5]

Evaluating. E-patients evaluate not only the information found but also the source of that information, be it a Web page, a peer, or a health care professional. This evaluation begins, and trust in sources is established, at an early stage.[6]

Equal. The e-patient expects to be an equal member of the team. There is evidence that when this situation is not encouraged by professionals, individuals develop mechanisms to manage situations that place them in a position of equal power at the expense of an open and honest relationship.[6]

Based on the current state of knowledge on the impact of e-patients on the healthcare system and the quality of care received:

A growing number of people say the internet has played a crucial or important role as they helped another person cope with a major illness.[7][8]

Since the advent of the Internet, many clinicians have underestimated the benefits and overestimated the risks of online health resources for patients.[9][10][11]

“…the net friendliness of clinicians and provider organizations—as rated by the e-patients they serve—is becoming an important new aspect of healthcare quality.”[13]

This is one of the most important cultural medical revolutions of the past century, mediated and driven by technology.[13]

In order to understand the impact of the e-patient, clinicians will likely need to move beyond “pre-internet medical constructs.”[13] Research must combine expertise from specialties that are not used to working together.[citation needed]

It is crucial for medical education to take the e-patient into account, and to prepare students for medical practice that includes the e-patient.[1]